Daycare centre in Chicago raided as immigration crackdown intensifies

Teacher from Colombia taken away by federal agents, causing panic among staff and parents

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A Spanish-language immersion daycare centre in a leafy residential neighbourhood on the North Side of Chicago was raided by federal immigration agents on Nov 5 and a teacher was taken away, causing panic among school administrators and parents of infants, toddlers and prekindergarten children at the centre, a staff member told Reuters.

Footage obtained by local WGN-TV showed two men, one in a balaclava, dragging a woman out of the colourfully decorated front doors of the Rayito de Sol daycare centre as she screamed.

The men wore vests that said “Police” but no other agency markings were visible.

The woman, who was identified in a parents’ text group shared with Reuters as Ms Diana Santillana, a teacher in the infant classroom from Medellin, Colombia, could be heard saying in Spanish: “I have papers.”

The agents grabbed the teacher in front of children, US Representative Mike Quigley, an Illinois Democrat, said in a statement.

Shocked parents, who said the school had recently told them that all the teachers were legally authorised to work, stood in Rayito de Sol’s carpark in the aftermath of the raid.